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Fall Bulletin 2016.Qxp HIGH HOLY DAY ISSUE (Schedule on Pages 6-7) KEHILATH JESHURUN BULLETIN Volume LXXXVI1, Number 1 September 19, 2016 16 Elul 5776 LOVING GOD MORE THAN HALACHA A ROSH HASHANAH MESSAGE From Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz t would seem to be old news. This past summer, the Petach Tikvah Rabbinate rejected the conversion of a young woman who was This is the first Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Iconverted by Rabbi Lookstein. There were protests, op-eds and that Lisa, myself and our children are celebrating at KJ. negotiations; and the crisis ultimately ended in absurdity and ambiguity, with the Supreme Rabbinical Court dodging the case and We have been overwhelmed by the wonderful friendship instead pressuring the convert to undergo a flash reconversion. Rabbi and support we have received from our community, and Lookstein’s convert is now free to get married. One could say this is we feel blessed to be a part of KJ. We look forward to now over. But it’s not. Unfortunately, many of the issues behind the disqualification of celebrating many more Shabbatot and holidays with you Rabbi Lookstein are still ongoing; and of greater concern is the in the future, and may God bless you and your families religious philosophy that precipitated this crisis, a philosophy which with a year filled with joy, goodness and blessing. promotes an unhealthy fixation on Halachic rules while forgetting the Shanah Tovah, ultimate goals of Halacha. This fixation is not new. The Talmud (Sotah 21b) talks about the Chaim “pious fool”. It says: “What is a pious fool? A woman is drowning in the river, and he says: ‘It is improper for me to look upon her and rescue her’.” A pious fool looks only at the rules and never at the goals. A woman created in the image of God is dying, yet this pious idiot can’t even look at her in order to throw her a lifeline! 1 The discipline of Halacha is so intense that we must always worry about mutating into pious fools; and I believe the Lookstein case is a classic example of this phenomenon, of putting meticulous observance of Halacha before Jewish unity and serving God. To understand this, we need some context. While it is unclear why Rabbi Lookstein’s conversion was rejected by the Petach Tikvah Beit Din, one suspects that it has a lot to do with an ongoing conflict in Israel regarding conversion. In 2008, Rabbi Avraham Sherman disqualified thousands of conversions by Rabbi Chaim Drukman. He did so because he felt Rabbi Druckman was no longer a qualified Rabbinic Judge. In his decision Rabbi Sherman wrote: “The conversion Beit Din of Rabbi Druckman is a disqualified Beit Din, because they disrespect the Halacha as decided by all of the decisors…..and act with a lack of seriousness, and...one should see them as frivolous people who do not accept the decisions of the Torah and Shulchan Aruch, and fabricate on their own empty words….therefore one should see them as intentional transgressors and heretics…” Rabbi Sherman is referring to a lenient view in the laws of conversion, one accepted by Rabbi Druckman. In response, he claims this view is fabricated, and any Rabbi who follows it is a transgressor and heretic. Therefore, not only are converts who are converted based on this lenient view disqualified, but Rabbi Druckman himself, because he holds this lenient view, is disqualified and considered a heretic and a sinner. After all of the shenanigans this summer, I was left with the sneaking suspicion that a similar process was at hand with Rabbi Lookstein. After all, one could see immediately that this convert was quite meticulous in her observance of mitzvot; that was admitted by all. And the idea that a well known Rabbi was “not known” by the Rabbis in Petach Tikvah was also a smokescreen; why couldn’t they make a few phone calls and find out who Rabbi Lookstein was? Clearly, the rejection had something else behind it. And I continued on page 10 - CHATANIM SELECTED See Page 3 - Page 2 KEHILATH JESHURUN BULLETIN INAUGURAL WELCOME SELICHOT SERVICES Kehilath Jeshurun warmly welcomes the following new members who joined the Saturday, September 24 Congregation between the printing of the at 10:00 PM last Bulletin, on June 28, and this Bulletin, in the Main Sanctuary which went to press on September 9: Preceded by a Collation Mark Abel at 9:15 PM Stefanie Hirsch and Patrick Coyle in the Heyman Auditorium RABBI SAUL BERMAN Michele and Gad Demry TO DELIVER Nechama and Jason Fertig NINTH ANNUAL TESHUVAH Marie-Claude Frappier vesmu vkp,u vcua,u LECTURE Sarah and Isaac Jonas IN MEMORY OF Allie and Alexander Luxenberg vrzdv gr ,t ihrhcgn Rachel and Matthew Luxenberg FLORENCE FISHEL COHEN Rochelle and Charles Moche “On Hearing God’s Response Kim and Jason Ostheimer In Our Prayers” Miriam Ranells TO JOIN THE KJ ONLINE COMMUNITY, Hindy Schachter SEND AN E-MAIL WITH YOUR Jessica and Joseph Scherban FIRST AND LAST NAME Liora and Ben Taragin TO: [email protected] Michelle and Bruce Taragin BE SURE TO VISIT KJ’S WEBSITE WWW.CKJ.ORG Florence Fishel Cohen, z”l KJ SYNAGOGUE MEMBERSHIP: e are pleased to announce that the BE APART OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE Wninth annual Florence Fishel Cohen Teshuvah Lecture will be given this year by Professor of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva Contact KJ Executive Director Leonard Silverman University, Rabbi Saul Berman, on at 212-774-5680 or [email protected] Thursday evening, October 6, at 7:30 in the Heyman Auditorium, 125 East 85th Street. The naming of the lecture in memory of Florence was made possible by a generous RABBI CHAIM STEINMETZ TO DELIVER commitment from the Nathan and Louise SHABBAT SHUVA DRASHA Goldsmith Foundation. The Directors of the Foundation knew Florence personally because all of its meetings are held in “Life’s Lottery, Moral Luck, Rabbi Lookstein’s office. They appreciated the special kind of devotion and love that and the Yom Kippur Service” Florence demonstrated toward the Rabbi, the congregation, Ramaz and the Nathan and Louise Goldsmith Foundation board Saturday, October 8 members. They felt it would be appropriate to memorialize her at KJ in this following 5:40 PM Mincha services special way. Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun We are proud that the annual Teshuvah 125 East 85th Street Lecture continues to be a memorial to Florence, who gave forty years of her professional life to the KJ/Ramaz family. SPONSORED BY SUZY AND LARRY PRESENT, COMMEMORATING THE We invite everyone to attend Rabbi YAHRZEIT OF SUZY’S PARENTS, SARAH AND EMANUEL GOLDBERGER Berman’s meaningful lecture. KEHILATH JESHURUN BULLETIN Page 3 ALAN FRIEDMAN, RAY CHALME, AND ROCKY FISHMAN CHOSEN FOR TORAH HONORS ON SHEMINI ATZERET AND SIMCHAT TORAH The officers of the congregation are pleased to announce that Alan Friedman, Ray Chalme, and Rocky Fishman, three distinguished members of the Congregation, have been chosen for the highest Torah honors of the year. Their installation will take place before the Musaf service on Shemini Atzeret, Monday, October 24th. CHATAN TORAH: ALAN FRIEDMAN CHATAN BEREISHIT: RAY CHALME CHATAN MAFTIR: ROCKY FISHMAN Our Chatan Torah, Alan Friedman, is the We are delighted to honor Raymond Rocky was born into the KJ community, son of two American-born parents (his father Chalme as our Chatan Bereishit, in but began a long hiatus from KJ at age 3 when served in the Army Air Force in the Phillipines appreciation of his deep commitment to the he moved to Fairfield, CT. Growing up in a and Guadalcanal in World War II). He grew up KJ Sephardic community as well as the small community and attending Congregation in northern New Jersey and Rockland County. greater KJ community. Ray was taught by his Agudas Achim taught him the importance of He and his wife, Marylène were married at KJ beloved father, Elliot Chalme a”h, who community involvement. in 1982. They are the proud parents of Marc, a unfortunately passed at a young age, that the Rocky is an equity derivatives strategist at graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and highest level of charity is to help others help Deutsche Bank, where he writes research Machon Shlomo who recently passed his themselves and this has become the center reports and advises institutional investors Smicha exam with the Israeli rabbinate. Marc piece of Ray’s philosophy of Tzedakah and about option markets and volatility trading. He and his wife live with their two daughters in community service. is frequently quoted in the financial press, and Beit Shemesh, Israel. Alan and Marylène’s As one of the founding members of the KJ has made several radio appearances. Rocky younger son, David Aaron, is a graduate of Sephardic Minyan, Ray brings his ability to holds BA and MS degrees from Harvard Tufts with an MBA from NYU Stern. He connect with people to the communal level University, and an MBA from Columbia recently became engaged to Carla Kalvin. and has helped introduce Sephardic Tefilla Business School. Alan and Marylène have entered upon a and customs to the congregation. As a Rocky moved back here in 2003 after path of increased religious observance in the graduate of Yeshiva of Flatbush (‘89) Ray was marrying his dynamic wife Sarah Nahmias. past fifteen years. They are enthusiastic very familiar with a blended Ashkenaz and Rocky’s KJ involvement has been driven by a Modern Orthodox Jews who have embraced a Sephardic institution. Ray has taken on board belief that even the strongest professional life of mitzvot and learning Torah. positions at both Ramaz and KJ, believing synagogue staff can powerfully amplify but Alan attends the daily minyan on a regular that once ideas and their backgrounds are never replace the impact of membership basis, and with the help of Rabbi Lookstein’s introduced, communal relationships will involvement.
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